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Longhorns lead National Western Stock Show Parade through Denver

The annual National Western Stock Show Kick-off Parade makes its way down 17th Street in downtown Denver, January, 09 2014. Cowboys and cowgirls on horseback lead Texas Longhorn cattle along the parade. (RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post)

The longhorn cattle that led the National Western Stock Show's kickoff parade through downtown Denver on Thursday may be smarter than the average cow, but that doesn't make them immune to mutinous behavior.

As parade participants lined up in a parking lot near Coors Field, one of the 60 longhorn critters decided to take an unscheduled detour, said Stan Searle, the Monument rancher who owns the stock.

"One of them was a little out of control. She didn't want to stay with the crowd, so we chased her and roped her and put her in a trailer," said Searle, 77.

The parade went on without a hitch — and without the rebel animal — as a midday crowd of thousands watched cowboys, cowgirls, cattle, and horse-drawn wagons and carriages make the annual stroll along 17th Street.

Stock Show 2014

"It's such a cool tradition. This isn't Manhattan," said Sarah Hall, 35, who brought her 4-year-old daughter, Quinn, straight from preschool to watch the parade.

For the dozen cowhands who guided the 40,000-or-so pounds of beef past sidewalks lined with people, moving the cattle carries a bit more risk than running them across the prairie, Searle said. "There is always a little risk when you get loose animals in front of thousands of people."

The longhorn is a very intelligent breed, and that makes them easy to handle, Searle said. "They may be a little wary at first, but when they're handled early, they get gentle."

A steer named Shoot-em-Up led the herd. (A steer is a bull that was castrated before reaching sexual maturity.)

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"They will follow him and stick around him," Searle said. "The cows have female hormones, so they're always interested in doing something. The steer just wants to eat."

Cattle will tip off their handlers when they're about to bolt, said Travis Casey, 40, one of the cowhands guiding the herd along the street lined with looming office towers.

"They will look where they want to go before they get there," he said.

If he sees a cow that is looking to ramble, he moves into the animal's line of sight. His change in position can get them back on track.

Not all horses are suitable for herding cattle, especially beasts with sharp horns that can span — tip to tip — more than 5 feet. "I've had horses that are afraid of cattle," Casey said.

But the fear can be trained out of most horses. Sometimes, he said, "I just pen them up with the cattle, and they get over it."

The horns can also intimidate people more accustomed to the cattle's short-horned cousins.

Watching a group of longhorns jostling in a pen, it's easy to see why. Occasionally, two will bang heads, their horns scraping against each other as they wrestle.

However, the longhorns "know to the exact inch how long their horns are," Casey said, adding they aren't interested in using them to gore each other — or their handlers.

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